Iwa Salami profile

Professor Iwa Salami

Professor

Centre of FinTech

Department of Law & Criminology , Royal Docks School Of Business And Law

Iwa Salami is a Professor of Law at the Royal Docks School of Business and Law. She is the Director of the Centre of FinTech; the Programme Leader for the LLM in FinTech Law and the Postgraduate Research Degrees in Law. She was a member of the Governing Council of the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) between 2016 and 2022. In 2023, she was appointed by the Bank of England and H M Treasury as a member of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Academic Advisory Group.

  • Professor of Financial Law and Regulation
  • Director, Centre of FinTech
  • Programme Leader, LLM FinTech Law
  • Programme Leader, Postgraduate Research Degrees (Law)

Qualifications

  • PhD (London)
  • LLM (London)
  • LLB (London)
  • PG Cert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
  • FHEA

Areas Of Interest

  • Regulation of mobile payments, crowd-funding;
  • Regulation of Web 3.0 applications in finance including crypto-assets, stablecoins, decentralised finance (DeFi), Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the metaverse;
  • Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) - wholesale and retail;
  • CBDCs and regional projects;
  • Legal Dimensions of DLT/ Blockchain Technology;
  • Implications of artificial intelligence on financial systems and regulation.

Prof Salami is keen to supervise potential PhD students interested in researching any of the areas listed above or other related aspects of FinTech regulation.

Iwa Salami profile

OVERVIEW

Prof Iwa Salami is a Professor of Law at the Royal Docks School of Business and Law. She is the Director of the Centre of FinTech; the Programme Leader for the LLM in FinTech Law and the Postgraduate Research Degrees in Law. She was a member of the Governing Council of the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) between 2016 and 2022. In 2023, she was appointed by the Bank of England and H M Treasury as a member of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Academic Advisory Group.

Before joining UEL, she was a research fellow at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, University of London where she lectured and then served as an external examiner on the Banking and Finance Law programmes. She has previously worked in the UK and abroad, including at the Government Legal Service and the African Development Bank.

Prof Salami has published extensively in the field of financial regulation in emerging economies and financial technology (FinTech) regulation. Her publications include numerous articles in internationally refereed journals and two books: Financial Regulation in Africa: An Assessment of Financial Integration Arrangements in African Emerging and Frontier Markets (Ashgate, 2012) and  Financial Technology Law and Regulation in Africa (Routledge 2024).

Iwa holds an LLB from the University of Westminster, an LLM from King's College, University of London and a PhD from Queen Mary, University of London.

External roles

  • Member of the Bank of England and H M Treasury Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Academic Advisory Group
  • Governing Council Member / Trustee, The British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA)
  • External Examiner, LLM International Commercial Law programmes, University of Reading
  • Consultant / Alternate Lead of the Policy Advisory Group, Esher and Makarios Legal Practitioners

PUBLICATIONS

Most recent publications

Media Appearance

Books

Books

  • •   Financial Technology Law and Regulation in Africa (Routledge 2024).
  • Financial Regulation in Africa: An Assessment of Financial Integration Arrangements in African Emerging and Frontier Markets (Ashgate 2012).

 

Book Chapter

  • Abugre, Jessie A., Misati, Roseline., Salami, Iwa Salami and Antwi, Stephen., Recent Developments in Banking Regulation and Supervision in Africa in Joshua Yindenaba Abor, Charles Komla and Delali Adjasi (eds) The Economics of Banking and Finance in Africa (Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions, 2022).
  • Salami, I. (2019) ‘Alternative Financing Approaches and Regulation in Africa’, in Daniel Makina (ed.) Extending Financial Inclusion in Africa (Elsevier 2019), pp 279 – 297.
  • Salami, I. (2016) ‘Cross-Border Issues and Regional Integration in Financial Regulation’, in Oladapo Olanipekun (ed.) Banking: Theory, Regulation, Law and Practice (Nigeria: Au Courant), pp 101 – 128.

 

Refereed Articles

  • Salami, I (2021), ‘Challenges and Approaches to Regulating Decentralized Finance’ in Fleur Johns & Galit A. Sarfaty, The Globa Governance Implications of Blockchain American Journal of International Law's online companion, AJIL Unbound, December 2021.
  • Salami, I (2021) ‘Decentralised Finance and UNSDGs – How Should Regulators Be Responding?’ World Financial Review July – August 2021.
  • Salami, I. (2021) ‘Bitcoin and Other Crypto-Assets in 2021 – What Does Regulation Hold for the Industry?’ International Investor, Winter 2020-21 Edition, pp. 22 – 26.
  • Salami, I (2021) ‘Financial Technology and African Capital Markets Post Covid-19’, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation 36 (1) Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation 31 – 41.
  • Salami, I (2020) ‘Covid-19 Crisis in Africa: Leveraging FinTech and RegTech for Economic Recovery’ 35 (10) Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation 410 - 420.
  • Salami, I (2020) ‘Decentralised Finance: A Holistic Approach to Regulating the Crypto Industry’, 35(7) Journal of International Banking and Financial Law 431, 496 - 499.

Portfolio

Conferences

  • Dr Iwa Salami, to speak at the Point Zero Forum on Innovations in Digital Finance: An invite-only conference, Zurich, Switzerland 21 - 23 June 2022, forthcoming.
  •  Dr Iwa Salami hosted the first UEL Centre of FinTech Roundtable event on 'FinTech and Fraud' on 25 February 2022.
  • Dr Iwa Salami delivered the Keynote speech on the 'Future of Finance in Africa' on 24 February 2022 at the African Digital Finance Summit 2022.
  • I Salami, Speaker, 'Regulatory priorities for Decentralised Finance' at the African Digital Finance Summit, Nairobi, Kenya, 18-19 February 2021.
  • I Salami, Speaker on 'Digital Transformation and Finance During the Covid-19 Crisis and Regulatory Dimensions' at the UEL Research is Open 2020 Virtual Conference, 31 July 2020.
  • I Salami, Chair of the 'Regulatory priorities for Fintech - emerging technologies, compliance and consumer protection' at the Fintech in the UK Westminster Business Forum (virtual) policy conference, 2 April 2020.
  • I Salami, Panellist, 'Cross-border Developments in Digital Assets and Implications for the UK' at the Fintech in the UK Westminster Business Forum (virtual) policy conference, 2 April 2020.
  • I Salami, Panellist, 'The Future of the FinTech Sector' at the Women in FinTech Summit, organised by Re-Work, London, 31 March 2020 (cancelled).
  • I Salami, 'Future of cryptocurrency, blockchain and its role in an increasingly digital society' Special Parliamentary Debate at the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London, organised by Parliament Street Think Tank, 24 March 2020 (cancelled).
  • I Salami, 'Cryptocurrency Regulation: Balanced Regulation Needed' at the FinTechTalents Festival, PrintWorks London, 17 November 2019.
  • I Salami, Panellist on, 'Cryptocurrency and Blockchain: Where Next?' Parliamentary Debate at the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London, organised by Parliament Street Think Tank, 27 March 2019.
  • I Salami, Discussant on 'FinTech in East Africa: From Local Incubator to Pan-African Hub' at Stephenson Harwood, London, organised by the British Institute in Eastern Africa, sponsored by the British Academy, 28 November 2018.
  • I Salami, Panellist on, 'Rights Based Approach to Doing Business for Sustainable Development in Sierra Leone' at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly side event, New York, sponsored by UNDP and LexisNexis, 27 September 2018.
  • I Salami, Speaker on 'Regulating Cryptocurrencies' at the UEL 2018 Research & Knowledge Exchange Conference on Global Challenges, University of East London, Docklands, 28 June 2018.
  • I Salami, Speaker on 'Energy Finance and Investments in Africa' at CCLS - UNIDROIT Development Finance in Emerging Markets Conference at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, 14 April 2018.
  • I Salami, Speaker on 'African Continental Free Trade Agreement and the Role of Law' at the African Studies Seminar Series at the UCL Institute of Advanced Studies, UCL, London, 21 March 2018.
  • I Salami, Chair at Centre for the Study of States, Markets & People, School of Business & Law, University of East London Annual Research Colloquium on 'Neoliberalism and Ordoliberalism: One or Two Critiques?' at UEL London, 8 December 2017.
  • I Salami, Chair at British Academy Lecture on 'The Moral Economy of Elections in Africa' at the British Academy, London, 13 June 2017.
  • I Salami, Speaker on 'FinTech Regulation in Africa: The Case of Mobile Payments and Cryptocurrencies' at the Fifth Biennial Global Conference of the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg from 7-9 July 2016.
  • I Salami, Panel Chair on 'Bankable Power and Infrastructure Projects in Africa' at The Global African Investment Summit at Central Hall, Westminster, London, 1 - 2 December 2015.
  • I Salami, Session Chair on 'Accounting Profession and Regulation' at the 5th African Accounting and Finance Association Conference hosted by the University of Mauritius, Mauritius 1 - 4 September 2015.
  • I Salami, Speaker at the 5th African Accounting and Finance Association Conference on 'A Regional Approach to Regulating African Cross-border Banks' hosted by the University of Mauritius, Mauritius 1 - 4 September 2015.
  • I Salami, Speaker at Chatham House London on 'UK Africa Policy, the Prosperity Agenda and the 'Golden Thread': Between Idealism and Pragmatism?' 23 March 2015

INDUSTRY PARTNERS

In her role as the Director of the Centre of FinTech, Iwa works very closely with industry partners to fulfil the mandate of the Centre of FinTech including engaging with industry to build the FinTech talent pipeline and creating opportunities for our students; embedding FinTech Education through practice; researching cutting edge/bleeding edge of FinTech; leading research impact on FinTech policy and regulation. The partners she currently works with in this capacity include:

TEACHING

Programmes:

  • LLB
  • LLM
  • MPhil/PhD


Undergraduate teaching:

  • Banking Law (LLB)
  • Commercial Law (LLB)


Postgraduate teaching:

  • Law of International Finance (LLM)
  • Regulation of Financial Markets (LLM)
  • Law of the World Trade Organisation (LLM)
  • FinTech Regulation (LLM)


PhD Supervision:

  • Mohamed Raffa (2020): Enforcements in Financial Disputes: A Case for an Interbank Award Clearing Framework
  • Noud Alowaymir (2021): Combating Terrorism Financing in Saudi Arabia
  • Clinton Osemwengie (2024): Regulation of Cryptocurrencies in Africa
  • Harry Maltby (2026): Deep Learning-Based Identification of Deep Fake Synthesised Voice Content in Fintech
  • Ademola Soile-Balogun (2026): Effective regulation of Equity Crowdfunding as a Mechanism for funding for Affordable Mass Housing Programmes in Emerging Markets
  • Joe Joseph Warioba (2026): Decentralised Autonomous Organisations and the legal status of decentralised systems

LLB (Hons) Law

The University of East London's LLB (Hons) Law course is a qualifying law degree, forming an essential part of the training you need to become a barrister or a solicitor.

Read more about this course

LLM Business and Financial Law

Study Business and Financial Law and familiarise yourself with contemporary legal and regulatory issues that govern international business and finance.

Study Business and Financial Law

LLM FinTech Law

Get expert knowledge in cryptoassets, private digital currencies, decentralized finance and central bank digital currencies in this FinTech course.

Read more about this course

Publications

The last four years of publications can be viewed below. 

Full publications list

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